


you and i, there's air in-between

by FlooRose12371



Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous Relationships, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Fix-It of Sorts, Implied/Referenced Sexual Harassment, Light Angst, M/M, Time Skips, could be read as platonic? maybe, i added some angst oh no, scandals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 06:47:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29913006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlooRose12371/pseuds/FlooRose12371
Summary: The first time Junsu saw the red haired boy, he yelled at him.
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Junsu, Ahn Jaewon | Wyld/Junsu
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	you and i, there's air in-between

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wildforwyld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildforwyld/gifts).



> cat, happy birthday!!!!!!! thank you so much for being such an amazing person, and for making this fandom feel so welcoming :) i'm really glad that we became friends :D
> 
> i hope you enjoy this fic, even though it was supposed to be something really short and sweet and this ended up happening instead ^^'
> 
> ok i'll stop talking now but again ily and i hope you have a great day ♡♡♡ - floo

The first time Junsu saw the red haired boy, he yelled at him.

And it wasn’t that he meant to or anything, but he was tired, and it had been a long day, and he had been _so close_ to finally just sitting down for a moment, and then—

and then this _boy_ had the nerve to knock on the door, even when the sign clearly read closed.

So, yeah. Maybe he _did_ mean to yell at him a little.

(But he likes to think that maybe he didn’t leave a terrible impression on the boy.

And maybe that was because his boss made him fix him a cup of coffee and some pastries, but still — the boy had decided to give him a croissant, with the wish of it making Junsu’s day better.

That had to mean _something_ , right?

Maybe.)

* * *

  
  


The next time he saw him, things went marginally better.

The bell over the door tinkled softly as the boy entered, and Junsu had let himself stare as the yellow sunlight filtering through the windows lit up the red strands of hair around his face.

The boy was pretty, with a face like one he might see on a billboard somewhere, advertising perfume or cars or chocolates or something. Like a model, or an idol.

Not that it mattered much to Junsu — he’d never been very interested in what the models and music industry’s prized possessions looked like, or what they did.

But still… there was something about this boy.

He looked better in the sunlight then under the harsh, artificial lights that the nighttime had brought with it. Softer. More natural, if someone with beauty like _that_ could be called natural.

He had ordered his drink in a soft, tentative voice, looking everywhere nervously, eyes darting from Junsu’s face, to the counter, down to his hands, around the cafe at the other customers, before back down again.

Junsu thought that maybe the boy didn’t remember who he was, though part of him doubted it. How many other bitchy tattooed baristas were there in the area?

(Junsu kept an eye on the competition; the answer was none.)

But if the boy recognized him from that night a few days prior, he didn’t say anything.

And Junsu didn’t bring it up.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The third time, it wasn’t even in the cafe.

Junsu was locking up the coffee shop, finally going home after yet another exhausting day, fully prepared to launch himself into his bed and not rise until it was at _least_ 10 am.

Of course, fate had other plans for him, as once he turned around, he was met with the sad, beautifully sad, face of the red haired boy.

Hood pulled up, walking slowly down the street, not even looking at Junsu —

but he couldn’t help but be pulled in by the boy once again. He wanted nothing more than to make him smile, to see the sad expression on the boy’s face wiped away.

And he knew that he wasn’t really good with words, but he couldn’t think of anything but talking to comfort him when he pulled the boy into the fenced terrace of the cafe, sitting him down before settling into the chair across from him.

He opened his mouth, readying himself to try and pull up an ounce of something that sounded close to comforting, to try and make the boy feel better, but was beat to the punch.

The boy offered him not one, not two, but _all_ of his bandaids that he had on him for future use. All because he had noticed the small scrape from the night before on Junsu’s cheek.

Stunned into silence, he had let his eyes widen, his guard down as he looked at the boy in a stunned awe.

How was he so nice to him? They had barely known each other, and yet he was going out of his way in attempts at making him feel better.

And then he hadn’t outwardly judged him at his awkward fumbles of conversation, or at him dropping the fact that he was homeless on him, or even the fact that he had stared at him for too long to be socially acceptable.

Instead, he had bowed at him, and asked hopefully if they could be friends.

When Junsu left him that night, the boy had his phone number, and he had his name.

_Jaewon._

  
  


* * *

  
  


Junsu’s new friend stopped by when he could, usually whenever his work ended, coming in at the end of Junsu’s shift.

Slowly, he stopped being so snappish at him, and worked on becoming a better, closer friend. Not because he was a kind person, per se, but because Jaewon looked like he needed one. A friend.

He started to learn things about him, like that Jaewon’s favorite drink was hot chocolate, because the taste reminded him of home and of his mother.

Like that he didn’t like the taste of coffee, but he liked the smell of it.

His closest friends weren’t very close to him, but he still cherished them.

He loved sharks, which was why he had a mini shark plushie attached to his backpack.

His job required him to wear makeup sometimes, and he looked particularly good in gold eyeshadow.

Junsu kept these facts on a mental list in the far, far back of his head. And everytime he found a new thing to add, he’d make a mental note of it, slowly building a portfolio of his friend.

In return, he tried to give Jaewon advice when he needed it (things like where the best noodle place was, how to get from the cafe to the river while avoiding traffic, who the best hairdresser was if he ever wanted to dye his hair another colour), and tried to keep his mood up.

Keeping him happy was easily achieved with well placed humour and teasing his boss. Nari might have hated him most of the time, but she too tried to help cheer Jaewon up when he came in sad.

All in all, this friendship thing was working out pretty well, so far.

* * *

  
  


Nari knew something about the kid that Junsu didn’t.

Like, yeah, Junsu obviously knew that Jaewon did something in the entertainment industry, he just… didn’t really care.

So what if Jaewon had to hide behind a face mask and a baseball cap when he went out, lest he be mobbed by fans? Or if he couldn’t show up during normal hours as easily as others might, because of training hours?

Junsu didn’t care about that.

It didn’t make him any less of a friend, or a person.

He just wondered sometimes if the reason why Jaewon hadn’t yet shared his secret with Junsu was because he didn’t yet trust him.

And the thought of that hurt, a little bit.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Of course, when he ended up hearing what Nari knew about Jaewon, and not from Nari, he felt more than a little bit confused.

Jaewon, _his_ Jaewon, the sweet and polite red haired angel that gifted others free food and gave them bandaids when they were hurt and stuck around even when people were mean to him, sleeping around with women? Getting into a scandal almost every week? _Sexually assaulting_ people?

Junsu almost couldn’t believe it.

Almost.

Because if there was one thing he had learned from his time on the streets, it was that nobody was what they seemed like, and that you always had to be careful of everyone. Everyone.

People that may appear just as nice as Jaewon could be the ones hiding something ugly behind their kind, desperate facades. No matter how much other people might want to assume otherwise.

People could be the kindest one day and the complete opposite another.

Everything went up in the air in situations like this, with everyone just stuck questioning, _the person I know wouldn’t do this. But do I really, truly know the person I think I do? Do I? Or do I just know an act that’s being put up?_

Junsu wasn’t sure what to think, not yet.

And so he waited to make his opinion. He didn’t want his seed of doubt on Jaewon’s — no, _Wyld’s_ — reputation to grow unless he knew that there was a reason for it to.

(Mostly, though, he was scared. He didn’t want to be hurt by the fact that yet another person he had let close to himself was bad, was as _stained_ and as _hurtful_ as the first one had been, and as the public perceived him to be.

He didn’t want to have to deal with the guilt of associating with someone who had caused others so much pain, to have found small bits of happiness and comfort with someone like that.

He didn’t want to feel betrayed by the boy with red hair, who had been nice to him when he wasn’t nice back, to feel like his life was missing something when the only thing it was missing was someone terrible.

He didn’t want to end up missing the company of a monster.)

  
  


* * *

  
  


When he asked Nari who Jaewon really was, she smiled at him sadly from next to him, removing her apron as they got ready to close for the night.

“He’s a boy,” she said, choosing her words carefully, “a boy, haunted by the media because of actions that aren’t his own.”

Junsu wasn’t sure how he could trust her words, not with so much uncertainty. He looked at her, weighing his thoughts. “How can you be so sure?”

She looked back at him, with a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes, and walked with him to the door.

“If an idol’s company has to ask for you to go into a club and make it seem like an idol is trying to force himself onto you, when he clearly doesn’t want to be there, then maybe there’s something wrong going on.”

“I— what?”

But Nari just looked at him and shook her head softly. “It’s not my story to tell.”

Bidding him goodbye, she left.

Junsu wasn’t able to sleep that night, too many words whirling through his mind.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Junsu still wasn’t sure what to believe. There were two conflicting narratives; one that the media seemed to think was true, spinning the tale of Wyld, the idol that got into scandals every week, and the other that Junsu had pieced together himself — a boy, with red hair, surrounded by the sunshine and happiness, who was being put into situations he didn’t want to be in.

But which one was true?

He didn’t know what to think.

(Of course, the best way to find out the truth was to ask it of the person themselves. But Junsu always ran from conflict, and he wasn’t sure that this time would be any different.)

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaewon sat at the table, cradling his hot chocolate in his sweater paw-ed hands, and the sunlight streamed through the window to where it illuminated his red hair.

Watching the boy in front of him take a sip, Junsu found that he had a lot of trouble connecting this Jaewon to the Wyld that the tabloids criticized. 

Watching him leave out the cafe’s door, Junsu saw a woman in a short, short dress bump into Jaewon, like she was about to fall. His hands shot out to steady her, pushing gently at her jacket covered arm to keep her upright, all while keeping himself far, far away from actually touching her. Bowing to her, he asked in concern if she was alright.

And then—

and then she reached a hand out for him, probably to brush off his shoulder, but—

but Jaewon flinched back, almost tripping over himself to get away. And he looked…

he looked scared.

(Junsu didn’t think that he had _ever_ seen him scared, not like that.)

And a part of Junsu realized that maybe Nari was right, because things weren’t quite lining up.

  
  


* * *

  
  


It happened again.

This time, Junsu made sure to observe the way Jaewon acted, especially around him and Nari. Maybe he had just flinched away from the woman because he didn’t think she was good enough for him to have a scandal with?

Maybe it was because he only saw women as objects, things for him to use?

But around Nari, things were fine — he let her hug him, pinch his side, ruffle his hair, not a flinch or flash of fear in sight.

It was only when another woman — again, short skirt, red painted lips, long nails — tried to walk around him to get to her table, coffee in hand as she stared down at her phone, that Junsu saw what he was looking for.

She was nowhere _near_ Jaewon, yet the boy still flinched away from her, eyes wide in panic and hand rubbing at his wrist.

When Junsu could sneak a look at the wrist, he saw faded green bruises and claw marks in the shape of a hand, like someone had dug their fingers and nails in and grabbed tightly, _too_ tightly, to drag Jaewon somewhere.

Now Junsu was really unsure of what was happening.

  
  


* * *

  
  


It finally came up when they were walking home, unannounced, words bursting out from Junsu’s mouth as he came to a halt.

“Who are you?”

Jaewon looked at him, confused, before trying to answer. “I— I’m Jaewon. Who else would I be?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” He murmured under his breath.

“What?” Jaewon tilted his head. “I don’t know what you’re asking. I’m me. Just— just me. There’s nothing else to it.” And standing there, with his hands covered in his sleeves, and surrounded by soft pastel colors, Junsu wanted to believe him. But.

“Who _are_ you, though, really?” Junsu pressed, not bothering to hide his frustration. “And who is Wyld? And where do the lies end and where does the truth begin?”

At this, Jaewon had fallen silent, a tired expression falling onto his face.

“Jaewon? Answer me, please.”

Jaewon took a deep breath, and a single tear made its way down his cheek. “Jun, I… I think I need to tell you a story.”

Junsu fell silent.

“You don’t need to hear me out. In fact, you could tell me to leave right now and never see you again, and I’d stay away. But…” he hesitated, unsure. “I think I’d like to tell you something.”

Waiting for a moment, Junsu crossed his arms and looked Jaewon in the eye. “Continue,” he bit out.

Jaewon looked in his eyes, and took a deep breath. “Once upon a time,” he started bitterly, looking up at the night sky. “Once upon a time, there was a boy who only wanted the best for his friends.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


It took some time for Junsu to come to terms with what was happening.

With the fact that Jaewon — _his friend, Jaewon_ — was being forced into scandals to get publicity for his group, to try and alleviate the debt of his friends.

With the fact that he was trying to, in a sick and twisted way, protect them.

With the fact that Wyld was nothing more than a lie that Jaewon was being forced to live.

Junsu felt sick, that the character of the kindest person he knew was being taken advantage of and used like this. That his _boss_ was doing all of this without a care of what the consequences that landed on Jaewon were. And that Jaewon was letting him get away with all of it.

But then again, Jaewon had always wanted to make others happy, hadn’t he? And keep them safe. And that’s what he was doing.

(Somewhere, deep inside of Junsu, he knew that his friend wouldn’t leave his position if it meant helping his friends.

And that’s what truly hurt.)

  
  


* * *

  
  


Somewhere after, Jaewon and Junsu were sitting across from each other in Coffee Days, and Junsu was listening to Jaewon rant about how his boss was forcing him into another scandal.

“I just don’t get it,” he said, clearly frustrated. “Why do I still need to do this? There’s no way that these women even want to be there, I can tell. _And_ at this rate I’m hurting the band. I’m hurting my friends.”

He looked down at his drink, yet another hot chocolate, and Junsu could see his eyes cloud over with tears.

“I don’t know what to do.”

Junsu looked at him, thinking hard. He knew Jaewon was in an awful situation, and that he needed someone to help him get away from the iron grip of the CEO and the company before it broke him, permanently.

If he were in his shoes, what would he do? He’d run away, for sure. He’d try to escape in any means possible.

But Jaewon wasn’t Junsu — he had connections, relationships with people that were tying him down in place. 

Thinking some more, he tried to weigh all of the possibilities of what could be done.

And could only come up with one answer.

He knew Jaewon would be extremely hesitant to go for it. But he couldn’t help but feel that it was the best way of cutting himself free of the toxic vines constricting him that were his company, his scandals, and his CEO.

“I think,” he started, gently, and he could see Jaewon picking his head up at the tone of his voice.

“I think it’s time you start considering leaving your company.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


It had taken a long time for Jaewon to be convinced that this was the best option, but after bringing Nari into the discussion, she had agreed with Junsu, and while they had left it up to Jaewon for the final decision (it was his career, after all, and it was his choice to make, never Junsu’s), he had in the end agreed with them.

When his statement about the lies he had lived as an idol was released and news of his departure from Mayhem and High Class Entertainment broke, it was all any of the news outlets could talk about.

About how a boy had been forced into a role of villainy. About how he had stayed out of the goodness of his heart to try and protect his bandmates. About how he had let the public trample him, over and over again.

The truth dragged the CEO down from his position, landing his face and name on the tabloid covers that Wyld’s own had used to decorate.

With High Class Entertainment falling, the leftover members of Mayhem also left, releasing their own statements about how the idol life just wasn’t for them anymore.

People couldn’t stop talking about the familiar faces now elsewhere — Minsoo moving to Twitch streaming, D.min going into music production behind the scenes, and Daehyun going back to college for a degree in marine biology.

And Wyld?

  
  


* * *

  
  


The door chimed as a boy walked through it, hair a dark brown, lit up by the yellow sunlight that streamed through the windows. He wore a face mask and a baseball cap, but Junsu could see his beauty despite parts of his face being covered.

Pulling the cap off and running a hand through his recently dyed hair, Jaewon gave Junsu a happy smile from in front of the counter.

He ordered in a soft voice, but his eyes never strayed from Junsu’s face, not even when Junsu went to make him his hot chocolate.

Picking up the cup carefully, the boy made sure to not spill any of its contents as he made his way to their usual table, sweater paws covering his fingers.

During his break, Junsu walked over before standing at their table, across from Jaewon. A sense of nostalgia washed over him like a wave.

“Hi, hyung,” he said, voice almost undetectably upbeat. It was a good thing Jaewon knew how to read him.

“Hey, Jun-ah,” he replied, eyes smiling in the sun.

He sat down across from him, pushing the small box of croissants he was holding towards the boy.

“For you,” he informed him, “as a congratulations from both me and Nari for your freedom.”

Jaewon smiled, delighted as he opened the box up, immediately grabbing a jam filled pastry.

Junsu looked on, enjoying the moment. He was happy, he realized, sitting in the sun across from his favorite person, warmth of the early summer day carried through the air sweetly.

The push of a pastry into his hand caused him to check back into reality.

“For you, Jun,” Jaewon insisted, smiling softly.

Junsu rolled his eyes fondly and picked it up, before biting into it, catching the crumbs in his hand. Then he saw Jaewon open his mouth before closing it again. “What? What is it?”

“Nothing,” he said. “I just hope it makes your day better.”

And now Junsu couldn’t help but let a rare smile flicker across his face, which in turn only made Jaewon smile wider.

Yeah. Things were good now, with Jaewon around.

He could get used to this.

  
  


* * *

  
  


(“Are you happy now? Now that things are better for you, I mean?”

“You know what, Junsu, I think I am.”

Jaewon turned to look out the window, sunlight catching on his eyelashes, lighting them up like liquid gold.

“I think I really am.”)

**Author's Note:**

> title from _alaska_ by maggie rogers


End file.
